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The name of this story has been changed to Nightsong, and most of it has been fixed. enjoy

He was running…or flying? All I know was that he was trying to get away from something. His feet barely even touched the ground as I watched him run. And even that was weird; it was like I was watching him from far away yet at the same time it was like I was there. A dream. It had to be a dream, but it felt so real….too real. Blood streamed from a wound on his shoulder, despite his hand clutching it. His other hand was clutching something as well. I couldn’t see it all that well, but somehow I knew; something alive was within that bundle of white cloth, something special. I watched the man run, neither able nor willing to move yet still able to see everywhere he was and everywhere he was going. The man with his long, wavy, black hair was running through an orchard, desperate to get somewhere on the end of it. And then I saw it, and apparently, so did the man. A relief as deep as his desperation had been moments before spread across his black eyes. A woman dressed in all white stood under a white marble cabana in the middle of the orchard. There was something about her, something, serene you could call it, that seemed to emanate from her. From her perfect smile and flawless skin, to her captivating black eyes and her incredible beauty, every part of her spread warmth and light into the black night. The man reached her, breathless, but relieved to find her and stood beside her under the white roses that hung about the marble structure. They spoke in a language I’ve never heard of, but I could understand it perfectly, somehow.
“Damian you’re wounded! Did they follow you?” The woman touched the blood pouring from the man’s shoulder, but he took her hand lightly and smiled warmly to her.
“Edilene, fear not, they have no means of finding me at the moment, but we must leave, tonight.” The woman’s expression turned to understanding as the man continued.
“The high priest gave blessing to our child, she is the one.” The woman shrank back, fear making her eyes bulge at his words.
“No, it can’t be, not our-,” The man held up a hand.
“It is true. She is the one who will end this accursed feud.”
Something from the inside of the cloths wiggled and began to cry, and I realized what was in the blanket. The man unwrapped it slowly held the baby up to its mother.
“There, there,” The woman cooed, silencing the child. She turned away from my sight, and I couldn’t see when she cradled her baby in her arms. Something about the perfect little family I was watching made me feel happy for them, but at the same time a terrible dread filled me to the core. Almost as If I knew it was going to happen, voices by the dozens shouted behind me and all three of us spun to see who it was. Immediate terror replaced my unease. I spun back to the family, desperate to warn them, to tell them to get away, but they couldn’t hear me. The child in the woman’s arm was asleep, but the voices getting closer made her awake. It was in that second that her brilliant blue eyes met my own and everything went black.

I woke with a start, breathing heavy. What was that about? Feeling my sudden movement, Tim sat up. The big grey husky must’ve sensed my unease; he leaned forward and licked my face. I pushed him off the bed and got out myself. I slid the glass doors open and stood barefoot on my small balcony, looking over the view and thinking about the dream. Who were those people? Why did they feel so familiar? Tim sat by my feet, holding his leash in his mouth. He always did that went he wanted to run. I kneeled down beside him and considered it; I didn’t usually run in the morning, but something about today made me want to. I changed into my running clothes and hooked the leash onto Tim’s collar and we both crept down and out of the house. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was just beginning to creep over the neighborhood and hardly anybody was out. Who else in their right mind would be out this early on a Friday morning? Only me I guess. My long dark hair bounced behind me as my feet fell into rhythm. That was just the way I liked it; not to fast and not to slow. I didn’t like to push myself like most crazed athletes whose morning jog consisted of a 5-mile hike around town. I just liked the time alone. Well, mostly alone. Tim was mostly good at keeping rhythm, though every now and then he had to stop and sniff at a pole or chase some woodland animal. I was about three blocks from my house when I saw them. A group of kids, not much older than myself all hanging around an old and boarded up pool house. The pool itself had been demolished years ago to make room for new housing, but for some reason the pool house was left alone. It was widely known amongst the kids in the neighborhood that if you shifted a couple boards on one side it made a sweet hiding spot from parents or neighborhood watch. It made sense why those kids hung around there. They were a shady bunch, I’ll give them that. Dressed up in all black, chains and multitudes of anything else that screamed “Goth” they made for the perfect stereotypical gang of troubled teens up to no good. I held my breath as I passed them, I could feel their eyes on me. I kept telling myself not to look at them, to just ignore them and continue, but something made me turn. Something made me catch his eyes. In a moment that felt like an eternity, I looked right at one of them, and he looked at me. I don’t know what exactly happened, but he smiled. And I smiled back. It was odd; it just felt like the right thing to do at the moment. It was over as soon as it had started, but I know that feeling would be with me forever. I could swear I knew him, but I don’t know from where. As I continued jogging, I couldn’t forget the feeling. Somewhere deep inside me, I knew something big was going to happen.

My mom and twin sister were finally up by the time I got back.
“Sam honey, I was wondering where you were. You never usually go out this early, something wrong?” mom bombarded me with her volley of questions. I dodged them, telling her I was fine but needed a shower. A little cold, but it didn’t matter anyway. I as too preoccupied thinking about who that boy was. It was really starting to annoy me now; I knew him from somewhere. I had to. The face was just too familiar. I peeled off my sweaty running clothes as the water ran in the shower and stepped in when it was hot enough. Not too hot, but not too cold either. Normally, I’d enjoy the shower, but today I didn’t feel like it. I got out quickly and wrapped a fluffy towel around myself and around my hair. I didn’t spend much time on my wardrobe, as usual, and slipped into comfortable cargo pants and a black t-shirt and headed back downstairs.
“You’re going to the mall in that?” Abby’s disapproving voice greeted me. I already guessed what she was wearing. A perfectly color coordinated and matching outfit from only the latest brand name with perfectly curled blonde hair and eyelashes. She’d have just enough make-up to look perfect without going overboard. How she managed this every morning was still a mystery to me; I barely even got my hair dry every morning. Abby and I were twins, yes, but we had almost nothing in common. She had perfect tanned legs and I had pale lean legs from jogging. Where she was obviously well blossomed I was nearly flat as a board with just visible lumps poking out. It was the scrawny Goth girl from the family of Barbie-dolls. Just my luck. I turned to her.
“Yes Abby, I am, apparently. Remind me why I have to go with you?” I sat down beside her and poured me a bowl of lucky charms cereal.
“You have to get a dress too, right? So don’t complain.” I sighed. The dance, how could I forget?
“And you’re not going to cop out and wear an old one. I’m personally making it my mission to make you look beautiful tomorrow night.” Abby gave me her confident smile. Too bad it was doomed to failure. There was no way someone as plain as me could ever be the ‘beautiful’ Abby envisioned. I had tried to dissuade her many times, but I’d never succeeded. For some reason, both her and my mom felt I was worth it. Whatever they saw, I was obviously blind to. I resigned my argument, after all, how bad could the mall be?

An hour later, I knew that hope was a lost cause. I was stuck in the back seat of Abby’s older friends convertible banging my head against the back seat. I was forced to listen to mind-numbing, monotonous and not to mention torturous, hip-hop songs after my CD player gave out. I tried to coax a few more songs out of it, just to last until we got to the parking lot, but I had no such luck. I all but jumped from the car when it finally stopped. Abby’s friends gave me a weird look as I fell into place behind them, but I didn’t mind. After years of the same look from the general populace, I was used to it. Abby rolled her eyes. As the mall loomed ahead of us, I wondered if today would’ve been the day to stay home sick. Too late. Once inside, my hopes that today would be somewhat less crowded were dashed. The mall was packed with more people than I’d ever seen in once place in my life. Okay, a bit of an over exaggeration, but there were still a lot. Wanting to get the shopping done with, I found a decent dress in the first shop. It was a sleeveless with inky black material at the top, adorned with small, glittering rhinestones, and slowly faded to a midnight blue at the bottom. I liked it, and even Abby said it was cool, but for some reasons her friends had a problem with it. I glared at them, shutting them up but their sniggers ensued. What was their problem?

Though I had found one in the first shop, Abby and her posse took forever. And I do mean, forever. Four shops later, at an hour wasted at each, I could barely hang on any more. All they seemed to do at each shop was go through each and every rack giggling and gawking at each dress, occasionally pulling one or two out, trying it on and ditching it. Plus, they seemed to have some weird reason for trying on practically every shoe in the friggen store. As we entered the fifth shop, it was getting ridiculous so I ditched them for the food court. It wasn’t like Abby needed me to baby sit her, and she was with her friends, right? I tried to convince myself as I ordered lo mien, orange chicken, and extra egg rolls at the Rice King. I found a seat near the fountain and broke the chopsticks apart. I never seemed to be full lately. It seemed whatever I ate left me longing for more, and whatever I drank never satisfied my thirst. I pondered why as I sipped my lemonade and shoved a piece of orange chicken in my mouth. I was slurping up a noodle when my phone rang. I fumbled with it for a second, trying to get it from my pocket to my ear and succeeded after the seventh ring.
“Hello?” I asked, forgetting to check caller ID. No voice came on.
“Helloooo?” I tried again, still, no answer. Until…
“I can see you….,” came a scratchy voice, sending chills up my spine.
“What the…, who is this!?” I demanded of the creep on the other end. The voice waited for a moment before answering.
“Turn around…” the voice demanded as a shadow spread on top of me. My eyes were wide as I sat there, gathering the courage to move. In one second I took a deep breath and spun around, only to release it in a sigh of anger as I came face-to-face with Anya and Cael.
“CAEL!!” I yelled, turning heads, but Anya and Cael were laughing their butts off. The two sat down at the small table, still unable to get over the stupid joke.
“You, you should’ve seen your face!” Anya managed through the tears.
“It seriously wasn’t that funny, you jerks,” I retorted, sour that I’d actually fallen for it. I clicked my cell phone shut and stuck it in my bag. Cael managed to recover himself fast and nodded towards the bag, asking,
“What’d ya get?” I rolled my eyes and opened it with my foot, letting him see the contents.
“Sam bought a dress? No way!” Anya fake-gaped and took the dress from the bag.
“Wow, I can’t believe you bought this all by yourself! Oh Sam, I’m so proud of you!” I gave her a shove as she started laughing again and took the dress from her.
“Abby’s dragging me to the dance tomorrow with her and I had to come today to get a dress. I don’t know it’s like she thinks I should do something “special” for my fifteenth birth-day. I tried to get her off of it, telling her movies downstairs with you guys’d be enough, but she’s been going on with it for weeks.” Anya stole an egg roll and looked from me to the dress and back.
“Well the black would go great with your naturally dark hair, and the bottom makes your blue eyes pop, don’t you think, Cael?” He was busy messing with his phone and almost missed what she’d said.
“Huh what?” he said, looking up. “Um, sure? Anya, I’m a guy, I don’t know these things.” Wrong thing to say.
“Sexist pig!” Anya accused him, to which he just shrugged and smiled. He tossed his blonde, curly hair out of his face in a nonchalant way just to piss her off further. Anya’s red hair matched her temper; vibrant and full of energy just waiting to spring. I laughed, despite the two. They were funny to watch together. Anya and Cael had been friends long before I had met them. Cael’s parents own a small coffee shop where Cael practices with his band every Wednesday. Anya started hanging out there because she had a crush on another guy in the band and eventually started hanging out with Cael. She still had a huge crush on the guy, but he wasn’t the only reason she still went there. Cael’s mom had given her and I jobs as waitresses recently to earn a little extra money. We didn’t mind; we all got to hang out after school.
“So you’re going to the dance?” Cael asked after Anya finally let it go. I rolled my eyes.
“No, Cael, I just happened to feel like buying this insanely expensive dress just because it made me feel pretty.” What? He knew it was a stupid question.
“Okay, okay, I guess I deserved that.” He ran his fingers through his curvy hair, embarrassed.
“Abby wanted me to ask someone, or vice versa. She even tried to get some of her guy friends to. A couple of them did, but they where in for a rude awakening when I turned them down,” I said over a mouthful of delicious orange chicken. I wanted to think the Chinese food was hitting the spot, but I couldn’t convince myself.
“Why don’t you come with me?” I stared at him for a moment.
“I uh mean, Anya and me. Were going, so instead of hanging with Abby, I um…” I cut him off.
“Of course! You think watching Abby and her new boyfriend drool over each other is how I want to spend my birthday?” Anya gave him a sneering grin.
“Did you really even have to ask?” before he could reply, my phone rang and this time I was quicker about getting it to my ear. It was Abby.
“Hey, were done, so like, where are you?” I guess not. Rachael’s shrill voice was unpleasant at best, not made any better by the poor quality of sound coming though the phone.
“I’m on my way,” I said, not wanting to expand the conversation beyond that. I hung up on her; rather rudely I might add and pushed the tray towards Anya.
“Gotta run,” was the only explanation I gave them.
“Pick you up at 7?” I could hear Cael ask behind me. I gave him a thumbs up behind my head as I stepped onto the escalator, searching the crowd for the Barbie-dolls.

The image staring back at me was, though I regret to admit, actually decent looking. There, I said it. Sort of. My mom had fussed over my hair, insisting on an up swirl, which of course I hated. Small ringlets fell around my head tickling my bare neck. Rhinestone bobby pins and a liberal amount of hairspray kept everything in place. Abby insisted on the make-up, and actually did a good job as well. She didn’t put a lot, but just enough to make me look actually, well, pretty. Dark mascara lined with midnight blue mascara made my eyes take on a dark glow and light, almost-clear blue lip gloss matched okay with the dress. The dress. Somehow, it managed to make me look like I actually had breasts. I blame the thick material at the top.
I was still studying my reflection in the hallway mirror when Mom snapped what must’ve been the hundredth photo behind me. I didn’t turn quick enough and sighed as she smiled.
“Oh honey! You look so pretty! Happy birthday!” Leave it to her to be a complete spazz over these things. I rolled my eyes, only just pretending not to like it. She wrapped her arms around me, careful not to mess anything up as Abby came gliding down the stairs. Just to be funny, she decided to get a dress just like mine. Except, her dress was hot pink at the top fading to orange. If I was the night, she was the day. Her hair was done in the same fashion as mine, even. Leave it to her to think we should act like twins on out birthday.
“And here’s the other birthday girl!” My dad said, taking pictures with his other digital camera. It drove mom crazy they didn’t use just one. No, dad had to use his special camera so he could go back later and do a bunch of technical stuff to it. That’s what he did. He designed computer gear, like systems and stuff. It’s cool, because he sneaks my friends and I all the latest games from his company. Cael actually helps him out for real, though. Cael, being a total computer nerd runs through all the new games finding bugs and cheats. He figures out how to hack them and reports to the mods, keeping all the really good cheats for himself, of course. In exchange the companies let him play for free.
The digital camera snapped again, but this time I was ready and turned away quick enough.
“Oh come on, one good picture?” he pleaded as Abby joined me. I agreed to just one, and stood there with Abby, smiling until my jaw hurt. One turn quickly into five, then multiplied to 10. A wave of relief swept through me when the doorbell rang. Figuring it was Abby’s date, I made a break for the kitchen, thirsty again. It’s was tonight than it’s been for a while. A gnawing sensation filled my palate, yearning for something. The ice-cold water did nothing, and neither did the orange juice. Annoyed, I slipped the container back into the fridge. I stood there for a moment, agonized by this longing until I heard Cael’s voice in the entry way. Almost too quickly I’d forgotten about him. I smacked my forehead, how could I? Then I heard Anya behind him and went to greet them in the foyer, my mouth still aching. “I thought you guys were waiting at the school?” I asked, walking in. I tried my best to ignore the stares I was getting from them. Sheer dumbstruck, that was the best was to describe it. Cael looked nice, he had black dress pants, a white long-sleeve shirt push up to the elbows and un-tucked. He is the only person I know that can make the messy-look, nice. Anya was wearing a short, green dress. Big surprise there.
“Uh, yeah, we meant to call you about that, I guess we forgot,” Cael said as soon as he seemed to get his voice back. Anya elbowed him sharp in the side.
“Oh!” he said, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small black box.
“Uh, here,” he said, handing it to me. Well, more like shoving it to me. I felt surprised nonetheless. The black velvet felt smooth under my fingertips as I flipped the lid open. I gasped. In an instant my mom was hanging over my shoulder, oohing, ahhing and everything. In the little black box Cael had given me was a necklace, of no doubt some expensive stone and metal, in the shape of a rose. It was bright white and sparkled brighter than the rhinestones on my dress. Which isn’t really saying much I know, but it was very pretty. One thing that kept running through my mind was,
“How did you get this?” Cael gave a small laugh,
“Through many a favor and errand. Just tell me you like it and I’ll consider us even.” His calm smile betrayed it had cost him a lot.
“I don’t like it,” I said abruptly, making his face fall. A smile crept across my face as I finished,
“I absolutely love it.” His face brightened even more so than before as I let him fix it on my neck, (mom snapping a dozen more photos as he did it) and we finally got out the door. Cael’s mom would be driving us there, while Abby waited for her date to pick her up. Boy did I feel sorry for the guy. We piled in the Hippy-Van, as we called it, and took buckled up in seats covered in shag. Fuzzy orange carpet clashed horribly with the fading pink-and-purple-polka-dot covered walls and beads hung from various places. A blast from the past they only drove when they especially wanted to embarrass us.
“Sorry for the choice in vehicle kids,” Cael’s mom apologized as we piled in,
“our other car is in the shop.” Cael’s mom wasn’t like most moms, besides being totally cool and all, she let Cael do pretty much whatever. She sang and played guitar at Java Hut sometimes, as well as running it, and she still managed a full-time career as an artist. Enough on her, back to the story. She let us jam to music on the ride there, preparing for the impending beating our ear-drums would be getting. A headache bit at the back of my head, but I ignored it. I wasn’t about to let something so small ruin my night. I took a deep breath as the van pulled up to the curb a block away from the school (to Cael’s request). We hopped out, and Cael’s mom said she hoped we’d have a good time. As did I. Almost too soon we were at the school and heading into the pavilion, showing our school id’s to the teachers. Most of them knew us, but we followed procedures nonetheless. Inside was pitch black and lit up with glow sticks. They handed them out at the door, and we made sure we grabbed plenty. Eventually our eyes adjusted and we moved around the throng of kids ‘dancing,’ if that what you could call it. Most of them only looked like they were trying to have sex on hardwood. Needless to say we averted out eyes. I’m not sure why I agreed to come. I wouldn’t be seeing much of Abby tonight, I didn’t dance, and it certainly wasn’t to hang with the people. I was forced to see them enough on a regular basis. Maybe it was because the beat of the music coursing through my veins had some sort of hypnotism over me. Each beat the bass boomed drew me further under its spell. Anya had to jab me in the side to wake me up from it. We found seats by the walls and did what we usually did; made fun of everyone else. It was a tradition for the three of us, that and sneaking behind the bleachers when the dance ended, seeing how long we could hide. Tonight just wasn’t the same, though. I hardly said anything, and Anya noticed.
“Sam? You still with us?” I snapped back,
“Yeah!” I said over the noise. An eerie silence had drifted over me, everything else sounded muffled. That was when I saw him. The kid from the other morning was standing on the other side of the gym. My eyes went wide and we both stared at each other. No matter how many dancers seem to cross our sight, we somehow managed not to loose each other’s gaze. It all made sense now! I knew him from school! How could I forget? No sooner had I had an overwhelming urge to slap my self, than he started walking towards us. I swear my cheeks started to burn as he seemed to drift through the crowd of people towards us, still holding my eyes. I managed to tear them away when Anya poked me again.
“Sam! That’s Michael Noland!! And he’s totally been staring right at you!! He’s going to ask you to dance!” I could barely hear her over the music anyway, but he caught my eye again. In almost no time, he was in front of me, and held out a hand.
“Care to dance?” The words echoed in my head, just as my stomach felt the need to set a swarm of butterflies loose. Almost unconsciously, I took the invitation. I wondered why for a brief second, I hardly knew the guy. The thought wasn’t concrete in my head, and floated out. There was just one thing I forgot. I can’t dance. It didn’t seem to matter to him, though. He took my hand in his, and put another one around my waist. It was a simple as that; we danced. Not like the other kids were dancing, I noted. He spun me around like some old-fashioned waltz or whatever. Even though the dance floor was packed, we never hit anyone. For a moment, it felt like we were the only ones there. He twirled me again, my feet somehow finding the grace to keep up with him. I surprised myself. Another twirl, another wide spin and my head just soared higher and higher into the clouds, all amazing to the beat of the heavy club music. The daze I fell into lasted an eternity for me, but in reality (wherever that was) it only lasted the rest of the song. It was over before I knew it, but the feeling left traces in my mind like little droplets of water falling from leaves after a rain.
Whoa…where did that come from? Since when did I think in metaphors? Michael smiled warmly, and I thank God the room was dark, so he didn’t see how red my face was. Then he whispered something in my ear, something in another language…I think. Not something I’ve ever heard. Or maybe…it sounded familiar.
“Uh…um…thanks, I guess…” I stammered, feeling like an idiot. He smiled again, and bowed deeply. Could I get more embarrassed? He disappeared into the crowd, almost as quickly as he appeared. I fought my way through the crowd of kids, getting shoved numerous times and my feet stepped on plenty. Anya was giggling out of her wits as I slumped back down into the plastic chair.
“Wow!! You two were awesome! Where did you learn to dance like that?” Her question seemed to shake the rest of the daze off, but I just shrugged and said,
“I don’t really know.” I bit my lip, wondering what he could have said. It had been like he was talking directly into my head, not just in my ear. Ugh, I’m bad at explaining this. I sighed and dropped it not wanting to rack my already excruciatingly-pain filled brain. I rubbed my temples as Cael and Anya looked at me strangely.
“You okay?” Cael asked, not bothering to mask the concern in his voice. I wanted to say yes, but in truth, I wasn’t. My stomach felt like it would give way at any moment, and my head had gotten steadily worse just sitting here. The thirst for something had gotten even more unbearable. I shook my head ‘no’ and leaned forward with my head in my hands. I could feel someone watching me, and glancing at Michael he had his back turned to me. It wasn’t him. Someone else was watching me; I could feel their eyes on my back, crawling over every inch of my exposed skin. It was a horrible feeling, and I’ve never had a stronger urge to get the hell away before. Not even during Abby and Is 7th birth-day at Chuck-E-Cheese’s.
“Can we go, like now please?!” Cael heard the desperation in my voice, apparently, as he nodded understanding. I gave him a thankful smile, and my eyes closed again. I never realized how tired I’d gotten.
“Whoa, hey, earth to Sam!” Anya was on her feet in front of me. I snapped back into reality.
“Uh, yeah, I’m coming.” I got up groggily as Cael phoned his mom. She was there in no time and we were home even quicker. Mom and Dad were asleep by the time we got home, no surprise there. The basement was all set up when we arrived, plush cots to the side, two couches and everything. Our downstairs was the perfect home movie theatre. A small bar stocked with everything you can imagine to keep you awake sat in the corner near the spiral stairwell. Cabinets disguised as speakers held a wide variety of DVD’s and several blankets. I told them to get settled in while I took a shower. The hot water helped a bit, but as soon as I stepped back into the cold bathroom, I felt ten times worse.
Suddenly, the ground shook, no wait, that was just me. I grasped the side of the sink counter with both hands, trying to steady myself. What was going on? My stomach pushed upwards, threatening to heave up two weeks of worth of food. Not an experience I’d take delight in having. I glanced up at the mirror…
“What the?!” I sucked in air. I was different…Not completely, just around the edges of my eyes and the corners of my mouth. The smallest details of my face seemed heightened, elongated. They seemed bolder, wilder, like some freaky chick ready to spill the blood of whatever poor soul crossed her path first. Then I saw my eyes change. They flickered from blue, to red, to blue again almost as if one was struggling over one another. I blinked, shaking my head, hoping I was just hallucinating. I opened my eyes, but it wasn’t gone. My eyes were pure blood-red and my pupils were in slits. My own image sent chills down my spine. I stumbled back, hitting the wall. I sank to the floor, cradling my head in my hands once more urging myself to return to normal. When I finally got up to the mirror again, it was gone. My blue eyes shone out once again. It had done it, though. I was freaked out. I got my pajamas on in record timing and joined the others out in front of the T.V. Anya was brushing her hair our of the curls and already in her pj’s. Cael was next in the bathroom but only to change. Anya flipped through DVDs, selecting which one to watch. I think she settled on one, but I’m not sure which. I could barely stay awake. I curled up in my cot, but got out and took extra blankets from the closet. The room was unusually cold. Anya, in her spaghetti strap camisole and shorts didn’t seem to notice, while me in my long pajama pants and t-shirt, was shivering. I tossed the blankets over me, suppressing another shudder. I curled up, my breath becoming heavy. I fell into a deep sleep. . . . I think. Did I ever really fall asleep? Or was this just a dream? I hope it’s the latter, because otherwise, I’m going crazy. I was standing in the park. What am I doing here? How did I get here? What’s going on!? I panicked, but found myself unable to move. I was there, but something felt off. I didn’t rally feel, there. Physically, sure. But I felt as though I was watching myself. From somewhere deep inside myself I was watching myself. White-hot pain coursed through my veins, setting every corner of my being ablaze. With every heartbeat, more pain shot out. I cried out in pain, mentally of course. My body wasn’t responding to me. Then came footsteps. Fast, evenly paced, a jogger I concluded, flinching again. My feet stood rooted on the cold pavement as a woman, possibly the lady that lived three houses down from us, came jogging down the path. I vaguely wondered why she was jogging at this hour, but it hardly seemed relevant. She hadn’t seen me yet, but soon she’d turn around a bush and I’d be in full view. An awkward moment to say the least. Then, something snapped. My eyes went wide and an urge overtook me, the urge to kill. Blood lust filled every part of me, moving my limbs forward. She hardly had a chance as she came around the bush. I was upon her in an instant, my hands finding her throat and mouth. She struggled stupidly, flailing her arms in desperation for oxygen. A part of me felt pity, but a larger part didn’t care. I told myself I should stop, that I shouldn’t do what I knew I would, but that little voice was squashed the moment I smelled the fresh blood pulsing beneath her pale skin. Each increasingly fast heart beat sent out a wave cascading through veins and into various organs. I wanted it. I needed it. The pain was at its peak, the thirst overwhelming. I threw my head back just as fangs pushed painfully through my gums. Long, sharp teeth dug into her skin, bringing her struggling to an all-time high, but I was strong enough to hold her down. I sucked up the sweet red liquid all too eagerly, tearing the flesh from her neck. Blood poured almost faster than I could drink it, but it posed no problem. Soon, I was relishing the feeling of it running down my own neck and reveling in the sensation spreading through my veins. I paused for a moment, my better half fighting whatever I was doing. Whatever had come over me pushed it aside easily and tore back into her flesh. When no more blood came, I was furious. I let her drop with an unkind thud. She was dead. The long gashes in her throat were other-worldly, horrific a more fitting word. My head stopped hurting, and my thirst was finally quenched. I felt so tired, so tired…a sudden wave of exhaustion overtook me and I fell to the ground. I think I saw the vague outline of someone in the distance, but I couldn’t make anything out as my eyes drooped shut.

I woke the next morning, headache gone. It was the strangest feeling, complete peace…a feeling I hadn’t had in a long time. That was when it hit me, the dream. But that’s all it was, wasn’t it? Just a dream? No way could it be real. It was just my mind coming up with a way to get rid of whatever I had last night. That was it. But it felt so…good. I hated to admit it, but it was one of the best dreams I’d had in a while. I smiled, might as well enjoy this feeling, the weekend would be over soon.

My predictions came true and all too soon I was slouching through first and second period on a Monday morning with nothing but a piece of toast in my stomach. Not the best combination especially when you’re enduring a grueling 50 minutes of dead silence and a handful of history papers due at the end of the class. I yawned wide, neither World History nor Science was teachable or learnable at 8:00 in the morning. I didn’t care if there was a detention penalty for snoozing in class, I needed sleep.
The oaf of a teacher never paid any attention anyway. I rested my head on my arms, shoving the stack of completed papers to the side of the desk. Everyone complained how hard they were, how long they took; I stifled a chuckle. If they spent less time swapping texts and more time actually doing it, they’d find it didn’t take that long. It usually left me half an hour of free time after I was done. I planned on spending every minute of that asleep. I couldn’t seem to today, though. My dream haunted me. I sighed heavily, cursing the clock for moving so slow. It seemed to be laughing at me. I closed my eyes, hoping for at least a light doze, but that hope slowly dwindled as my precious half an hour of sleep vanished and the bell was ringing. I gathered my black messenger bag, with its black-and-white checkered straps covered with a generous amount of buttons and pins, not to mention the multitude of key chains gather from various anime conventions, and graffiti covering most of the surfaces. I stuffed my pens and pencils into no specific pockets and twisted around my classmates to get to the teachers desk. I dumped my papers in the bin as Mr. Krof gave me a small nod on my way out. On the way to my locker several people, not for the first time today, eyed me strangely. I didn’t wonder why. I was wearing a loose red, button-down shirt with a wide, frilly collar and a black corset. I had tight black pants on with high leather boots adorned with chains. A blood-red stone sat around my pale neck, held on tightly with a black lace choker. My nails were deep red and I had heavy eyeliner. What can I say? I like to make an impression. Reaching my locker, I lazily dialed in the code and threw my World history and Science text books and retrieved my Japanese and Math ones. All of a sudden, I felt someone’s eyes on me. It wasn’t like at the dance, it was a more…soothing feeling I guess you could say. I slammed the door shut and found the source. Michael was standing beside my locker.
“Nice, outfit…,” he said after a moment. It sounded like he meant it, which only served to send my head spinning.
“Thanks,” I tried to sound polite. He smiled, but then his tone turned serious.
“Listen, I need to talk to you, it’s incredibly urgent,” he said, simply. I didn’t have time to reply before we were interrupted.
“Well, well, well. Michael Noland, already made a move have we?” I turned to see another kid, one I knew well. Jason Deveraux was standing just a few feet away from us with that cocky grin on his face. Only this time, it had a knowing twist to it. I wondered what he could mean. Michael said nothing, but moved ever so slightly in front from me. The air seemed to crackle with tension as I kept looking from one to the other, half expecting a fight to break out. It was well known in the school they two didn’t get along. Now I felt even stupider for not recognizing Michael at the first glance. The bell ringing finally seemed to break the spell between the two of them.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Michael whispered in my ear before both of them disappeared into the crowd.
“Well that was strange,” I said to no one in particular.

The day passed by with no incident until I crawled into bed that night. I pulled the soft comforter around me as an unpleasantly familiar ache settled into my skull. The same thirst crept into my pallet and I swallowed, trying to ignore them. Despite my efforts, they intensified until I awoke the next morning. I was in a daze all through breakfast and I hardly noticed when Abby and Mom talked to me. I merely responded with a few grunts or a nod. Nothing really seemed to sink into reality through the buss ride, first period, or second. I think I got called on in third, but I don’t recall answering. 4th is a blur. By lunch, it was a nightmare. I stood by myself in the lunch line as it slowed to a crawl. My head was throbbing and the noise of the cafeteria was seemed dull, as if the waves of sound were crashing on some distant shore. One sound stood out, though. The heart beats of those around me resonated through my very being. I could feel their blood almost as if it was on my hands. The want, no, need for it drove up an almost unpleasant memory of a certain dream. Was that all it really had been? After all, the neighbor did turn up dead the next day…
No! I woke myself up, knowing I had to get away. I ducked out of line, ignoring many a hiss of frustration as I knocked past several people, making for the library. I was almost to the door, too, before something grabbed hold of my upper arm. I didn’t even look before I tried to pull away, but when I couldn’t, I turned to face whoever it was.
“Michael!” I couldn’t think of why he might be holding onto me.
“Look Sam, we need to talk. Now,” his voice was stern, and I doubt it would’ve made a different if I’d said no. In fact, he didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he hauled me away. He led me down several halls, passed a couple open classrooms and to the auditorium. I started to guess where we were going. There was a small room in the back of the auditorium that held all the lighting equipment. Couples used it to make-out. I tired one last-ditch effort before he pulled me inside, but he hardly seemed to notice as he pulled me in behind him. I held my breath as he finally released my arm and stood with his back to me, deep in thought.
“Sorry about the space, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I could go to talk to you with no interruptions,” he explained, still not facing me. He must’ve guessed what I was thinking. My head throbbed and my heart raced every time his heart pulsed. I could feel it beneath the thin layer of his skin. I found myself running my tongue over my teeth. He fumbled with something in his bag before pulling it out and held it up to me. My breath caught in my throat. It was a plastic bag of something dark, red…and smooth…I shook my head, what’s wrong with me!?
“Your head is throbbing now isn’t it? And it’s not the first time, and I right?” My eyes went wide, but he continued.
“A bit dizzy, perhaps?” He pressed on, reading my reaction like an open book.
“And maybe a thirst that refuses to be quenched?” I could tell in his faint smile he knew he was right, but I wouldn’t let it go that easily. I swallowed hard and retorted,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so if you’ll excuse me I’ll just-,”
“Sam, you’re a vampire.” My heart just about stopped as I was reaching for the door.
“n-no…” I whispered, he’d finally put a name to my fear. My legs felt weak, but I wanted to run. He said nothing, but held the bag of blood closer. I finally gave in to the urge that compelled me. I ripped the bag from his hands and hungrily sucked it dry almost as soon as the fangs emerged. All too soon, it was gone and I was staring at my hands in horror. I was covered in blood, it was dripping from my face. I’m a monster! I didn’t know what to do, he was right! He tried to reach a hand out to me, but I shrank away. My feet finally found themselves, and, compelled with fear I ran. Hard and fast, I ran from the auditorium, past the halls, the cafeteria, the front office, the school. I don’t know why I ditched, and the worst part is, I didn’t care.

I ran until the blood was dry and tears were steaming don my face. I didn’t stop until I slumped down onto a bench not far from my house. I can’t say for sure what was going through my mind, fear, shock, horror, and somewhere deep inside, satisfaction. Absentmindedly, I found myself licking the blood from the corners of my mouth. It tasted so sweet…No! I couldn’t think that! Michael couldn’t be right, there had to be some mistake. Vampires didn’t exist. I know I couldn’t convince myself…I slumped my head in my hands and hardly noticed when the park officer walked up.
“Young lady?” he tried to ask. I didn’t acknowledge him.
“Miss?” he tried again, but I still wasn’t listening.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” His words finally reached me from wherever I was, and I glared at him with blood lust emanating from every fiber of my being. The bag hadn’t been nearly enough. I saw his eyes cloud with fear as I gave into my most primitive instinct. I let myself become lost in his blood, and sucked him dry. I knew then that Michael had been telling the truth, and that in fact, I was a vampire. Almost as if summoned by my very thoughts, He was there standing behind me, watching with a sympathetic smile. Then, I faded into a comfortable oblivion.

It wasn’t so bad, coming to realize you’re a blood-sucking demon from another dimension, or whatever. It wasn’t in the least bit creepy, or terrifying, not knowing when the next time you needed blood would be, or who you’d get it from. Not.
After being confined to my bed-room after they’d brought me home half-dead (as my mom dramatically over exaggerated) I started to come to terms with it. But, Michael had left me with so many questions; so many confusions I’d just given up on it and let my mind melt on 6 hours of straight anime. Online, of course. All T.V. had to offer were the crappy dubs that aired the same episode every weekend. No, I found sites like Veoh, and sometimes the VJ on Gaia to offer a nice selection of my favorite shows. And when occasion called for it, Youtube. I don’t particularly enjoy Youtube, seeing as the delete almost every show on there, but sometimes they were the only ones who had what I was looking for. Not now, apparently. I clicked out of the screen, sighing heavily. It had been a laugh, going back to watch all the vampire animes I’d fallen in love with years ago, but now, it just seemed like a bad after-taste when you’d had the real-deal. I decided I’d had enough anime for the day. I fingered the phone in my hand, picking at the puffy stickers on the back, wondering if I should call Cael or not. But what would I say? ‘oh hey, just wanted to let you know I’ve turned into this freaky blood-thirsty chick and might get the urge to suck your blood once in a while,’ He’d totally freak. Not to mention Anya. But then what about my parents? My family? Even people as thick as they are should be able to figure out their daughter’s undead when her skin turns white and she stops showing up in family photos. What would they think? Would they call me a freak?
I bit my lip, debating my dilemma, when the phone in my hand started vibrating. I flipped it open, not recognizing the number. I pushed talk all the same.
“Hello?” I asked. The voice that responded was hushed and low.
“Sam, it’s me,’ was all it said, but I knew who it was instantly.
“Michael?” I asked, clutching the phone to my head and leaning forward in the chair.
“I know you’ve been probably been a bit disorientated these past few days, but I’d like to talk to you, get some things cleared up, okay?”
I didn’t hesitate to answer, “Yes! Of course! Um wait, when can we meet?” the phone clicked off, and I heard a knock on the door leading to my balcony. I almost fell out of my chair trying to get to out, and rushed to the door.
“How about now?” he said, standing on the other side. He was dressed in all black, fitting for a creature of the night I guess. Suddenly I felt a bit under dressed in my black t-shirt and Choco-cat pajama shorts. The setting sun illuminated the two of us, washing waves of gold over the balcony. Michael seemed to glow.
“Um, yeah, now seems to be a pretty good time.” He smiled, a faint red came to my cheeks.
“So I’m a vampire now, huh? Anything I should know other than the blood-sucking part, like allergies to garlic, silver, and crucifixes, holy water, you know, that sort of stuff?” I tired to ask casually, but he looked at me sternly. A bad feeling suddenly contracted in the pit of my stomach.
“You’re not a vampire, yet. First, you need to die.” The two of us were silent for a moment, the only sound being the mockingbird that nested in the eaves of the roof.
“What?” He could tell by the look on my face I didn’t quite get it.
“I said, you need to die first. New vampires start blood sucking early, but to become a full one, you need to die. When you re-awaken, you’ll be a fully-fledged creature of the night. You probably haven’t noticed many issues with the stuff you mentioned, huh?” I shook my head. I didn’t seem to melt in daylight, I still liked Italian food, and I went to church regularly. Well, almost regularly.
“Once you become a full vampire, they’ll start to take their toll. Sun’s not so bad, just be sure to wear a little sunscreen when you go out,” he said, leaning on the black metal railing. I just stood there with my mouth slightly open, letting it sink in.
“Do be careful around garlic, though. Touching it’ll give you a bad rash, but if you swallow it or get some in a wound, it can be lethal. Trust me, last time Anadia dragged me out for Italian, let’s just say it wasn’t a pretty sight.” He chuckled; I was only half-listening to his joke.
“So how does is work, this ‘dying’ thing?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer. I only noticed now how uneven my breath was. I almost felt like I’d been out running.
“Exactly how it sounds, you have to die. How you go ‘s not really the issue, but waking up again might be. You have to have a strong will to live, or else the demon blood will take over you, suffocating your ‘human’ (he said with air quotes) side, turning you into a monstrous raving lunatic, devouring everything and everyone in you path.”
He added, almost as an after thought, “Revenants are never fun to watch, or kill.” He smiled, shrugging. Now that kind of irritated me. I turned away from him, holding my arms close to me. I felt his hand on my shoulder, but did not turn.
“And what if I don’t want to die?” He took a moment before answering.
“It’ll slowly get worse, you’ll crave blood more often, mundane food will seem revolting, you’ll get angry, and you’ll slowly push away everyone around you. That is, you’ll slowly become a revenant and we’ll have to kill you.” The bluntness of his words struck like a dagger somewhere deep inside me. I was scared, and he could probably see that.
“If you do undergo the transformation, you at least get to keep yourself, well, most of yourself.” I let him rub his hand on my arm, comforting me. I turned to him with a firm resolution.
“Alright, I do it.”

As it turns out, it’s really not all that hard to die for a vampire. No, it doesn’t employ the usual methods of suicide; there was actually a ritual for it. Anadia, the girl Michael had mentioned, was a half-ling, a half vampire he’d explained. She wasn’t full vampire, as the word ‘half-ling’ suggests, but she wasn’t a revenant either. Apparently, half-lings were especially powerful in demon magics, being children of warlocks and vampires.
Anyway, Anadia was making a potion for me to drink that would kick-start the transformation process, turning me into my full form, whatever that would be. Michael had explained a little about what happens to vampires after their transformation, that it was different for most, and something about special abilities, but I hadn’t been listening very well. The nerves had been eating away at me as we the sun sank lower behind the horizon. Michael hadn’t ended up leaving until my mom’s truck was driving up and Abby returned from cheer practice. When mom got back and thoroughly checked me out, she deemed me fit to go to school the next day. So that’s how I wound up here on this fine Wednesday morning asleep in World History. As usual, my papers were done, and Mr. Krof was sitting the back clicking away at his computer. I heard whispers all around me, mostly concerning my mysterious disappearance. Apparently, disappearing to the auditorium with one of the school’s most crushed-on guys and not coming back is not the nicest picture you could paint. Who knew what wild rumors were flying around Trinity High?
None of that really mattered to me anyway. I was never really one for caring what people thought. Whatever mean things they had to think about me can sit up there in their little evil minds and rot for all I care. I was more focused on the transformation. It occupied almost every aspect of my mind, and I could hardly hear Cael at my locker during break filling me in on all the details of what happened on my day off. Honestly, how much could happen in one 24-hour time period that I needed to know about? Well, besides the pop-quiz in math of course. That was crucial.
“Are you even listening?” Cael’s voice rang out, thick with annoyance. I looked up at him, expecting an angered grimace, instead, I found worried blue eyes locked onto mine.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things lately, that’s all.” I smiled reassuringly, but it didn’t convince either of us.
“Sam what’s going on with you? You seem so, distant all of a sudden.” His eyes were pleading, I felt their gaze pulling at my heart. I turned away, shrugging off the thought. I could never tell him. He’d never understand.
“Cael, you’re worrying too much, I’m fine really.” I held the same smile as I turned to walk away but he caught my upper arm. I mean really, what is it with people grabbing my arms lately!
“Sam,” he started, I turned back to him. His eyes held a determined glare, I could feel them boring into my eyes.
“We’ve been best friends since we were five. I can tell when you’re trying to hide something.” The truth of his words sorely tempted me, but there’s no way I’d burden him with info like that.
“Cael, honestly, there’s nothing wrong. I’m seri-,”
“Stop lying to me Sam! Do you think I’m stupid!?” his grip tightened on my arm, succeeding to actually twinge a bit. He saw me flinch, and he softened a bit.
“Please, Sam, I’m trying to help.” I looked deep in his eyes, maybe he would understand. I glanced around, the hallway was deserted. Cael saw my moment of indecision, and his suspicions were confirmed. His eyes looked at me expectantly as I opened my mouth, but my words were nipped in the bud.
“I don’t believe she asked for your help, mundane.” A sharp voice sounded at my back, and a red-sleeved hand easily pried Cael’s hand off my arm.
“What do you want, Deveraux?” Cael’s voice was surprisingly vicious. I was even more surprised by the fact It was Jason who’d come to my aide. Not that I really needed it.
“No need for formalities, Jace will do nicely. He smiled politely, but that only seemed to edge Cael on. Jace returned his glare with a steady, confident gaze of his own. He put a hand on my shoulder, making me tense up.
“I happened to be walking by and saw Sam’s little predicament here. What kind of gentleman could I consider myself if I had not helped out?” Cael let out controlled breath of air, I noted, with much effort.
“There was no ‘predicament,’ I just needed to talk to her,” he said, calming down a bit.
“Not from where I was standing. Unless I’m much mistaken ‘talking’ does not usually entail grabbing a person and yelling at them. Am I wrong?” Cael looked at me, asking to back him up, but hating myself for doing it, I turned my head away from him. I could feel I hurt him deeply, even without looking at him. My eyes stung.
“I see. I get it. Sorry Sam, for getting so worried over you. Have fun with your new life.” I wanted to call out to him, to get him to come back, I wanted so badly to, but I knew he’d be better off with a freaky-vampire chick as a best friend. Who knows if next time I was hungry, that I wouldn’t go after him? Jace loosened his grip on me.
“Okay there?” His warm brown eyes were on me, and I looked up to him.
“Why’d you come?” I asked in a low, demanding voice. Jace chuckled.
“I wasn’t the one you wanted, right? Sorry I’m not Michael, but I think I can be of some use.” I cocked an eyebrow.
“What do you mean by that?” He leaned against the locker, taking his time.
“I take it Noland broke the news to you? All the bloody details?” I finally caught on.
“You mean you’re a-,”
“Vampire? Yes.” He caught me mid-sentence. I stood there, astonished.
“Honestly, you thought you and Michael were alone? Wow, he must not have told you much. It’s a shame he got to you first, I’d ‘ve broke the news a bit lighter, and told you a lot more.” Now he was just confusing me.
“He’s told me plenty,” I said defensively. He gave me a look that made even me doubt myself.
“Anyway, you still haven’t told me what all this is about,” I said, starting to get annoyed. His laid-back attitude tended to get on your nerves after a while. He stood from the lockers, his eyes serious.
“I want you to meet someone. Or rather, that someone wants to meet you. Very badly, I might add.” I looked at him with a questioning look.
“Who is this someone, might I ask? And what makes them think I want to meet them?” Jace took a step closer, but I stood my ground.
“My mentor, Luke Morgen, he knows about you, the new vampire with seemingly no relations to the demonic world. He’s very interested in you, so he sent me to come and fetch you, so, here I am, extending a formal invitation to Sparrow’s keep. Mind you, It’s not very often he does this, you know.” I gave it a thought; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to hear what he had to say, but Michael’s warning shook that away. He’d said not all vampires were good, this ‘Luke Morgen’ certainly didn’t sound like the good ones.
“Well you can tell this Mr. Morgen he can take his fancy invitation and shove it.” I turned to leave, but Jace caught me with little more than his words.
“Not all those he’s sent will ask as nicely, Samantha.” He voice had an edge to it, and I turned back to him. Surprisingly, his eyes were pleading.
“Hmph!” was my reply. I left him standing there, feeling his eyes on my back as I walked away.